(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter any
person who -
(a) intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or
procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept,
any wire, oral, or electronic communication;
(b) intentionally uses, endeavors to use, or procures any other
person to use or endeavor to use any electronic, mechanical, or
other device to intercept any oral communication when -
(i) such device is affixed to, or otherwise transmits a
signal through, a wire, cable, or other like connection used in
wire communication; or
(ii) such device transmits communications by radio, or
interferes with the transmission of such communication; or
(iii) such person knows, or has reason to know, that such
device or any component thereof has been sent through the mail
or transported in interstate or foreign commerce; or
(iv) such use or endeavor to use (A) takes place on the
premises of any business or other commercial establishment the
operations of which affect interstate or foreign commerce; or
(B) obtains or is for the purpose of obtaining information
relating to the operations of any business or other commercial
establishment the operations of which affect interstate or
foreign commerce; or
(v) such person acts in the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of
the United States;
(c) intentionally discloses, or endeavors to disclose, to any
other person the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic
communication, knowing or having reason to know that the
information was obtained through the interception of a wire,
oral, or electronic communication in violation of this
subsection;
(d) intentionally uses, or endeavors to use, the contents of
any wire, oral, or electronic communication, knowing or having
reason to know that the information was obtained through the
interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication in
violation of this subsection; or
(e)(i) intentionally discloses, or endeavors to disclose, to
any other person the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic
communication, intercepted by means authorized by sections
2511(2)(a)(ii), 2511(2)(b)-(c), 2511(2)(e), 2516, and 2518 of
this chapter, (ii) knowing or having reason to know that the
information was obtained through the interception of such a
communication in connection with a criminal investigation, (iii)
having obtained or received the information in connection with a
criminal investigation, and (iv) with intent to improperly
obstruct, impede, or interfere with a duly authorized criminal
investigation,
shall be punished as provided in subsection (4) or shall be subject
to suit as provided in subsection (5).
(2)(a)(i) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for an
operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of a
provider of wire or electronic communication service, whose
facilities are used in the transmission of a wire or electronic
communication, to intercept, disclose, or use that communication in
the normal course of his employment while engaged in any activity
which is a necessary incident to the rendition of his service or to
the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that
service, except that a provider of wire communication service to
the public shall not utilize service observing or random monitoring
except for mechanical or service quality control checks.
(ii) Notwithstanding any other law, providers of wire or
electronic communication service, their officers, employees, and
agents, landlords, custodians, or other persons, are authorized to
provide information, facilities, or technical assistance to persons
authorized by law to intercept wire, oral, or electronic
communications or to conduct electronic surveillance, as defined in
section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978,
if such provider, its officers, employees, or agents, landlord,
custodian, or other specified person, has been provided with -
(A) a court order directing such assistance or a court order
pursuant to section 704 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act of 1978 signed by the authorizing judge, or
(B) a certification in writing by a person specified in section
2518(7) of this title or the Attorney General of the United
States that no warrant or court order is required by law, that
all statutory requirements have been met, and that the specified
assistance is required,
setting forth the period of time during which the provision of the
information, facilities, or technical assistance is authorized and
specifying the information, facilities, or technical assistance
required. No provider of wire or electronic communication service,
officer, employee, or agent thereof, or landlord, custodian, or
other specified person shall disclose the existence of any
interception or surveillance or the device used to accomplish the
interception or surveillance with respect to which the person has
been furnished a court order or certification under this chapter,
except as may otherwise be required by legal process and then only
after prior notification to the Attorney General or to the
principal prosecuting attorney of a State or any political
subdivision of a State, as may be appropriate. Any such disclosure,
shall render such person liable for the civil damages provided for
in section 2520. No cause of action shall lie in any court against
any provider of wire or electronic communication service, its
officers, employees, or agents, landlord, custodian, or other
specified person for providing information, facilities, or
assistance in accordance with the terms of a court order, statutory
authorization, or certification under this chapter.
(iii) If a certification under subparagraph (ii)(B) for
assistance to obtain foreign intelligence information is based on
statutory authority, the certification shall identify the specific
statutory provision and shall certify that the statutory
requirements have been met.
(b) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for an officer,
employee, or agent of the Federal Communications Commission, in the
normal course of his employment and in discharge of the monitoring
responsibilities exercised by the Commission in the enforcement of
chapter 5 of title 47 of the United States Code, to intercept a
wire or electronic communication, or oral communication transmitted
by radio, or to disclose or use the information thereby obtained.
(c) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person
acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic
communication, where such person is a party to the communication or
one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to
such interception.
(d) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person not
acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic
communication where such person is a party to the communication or
where one of the parties to the communication has given prior
consent to such interception unless such communication is
intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious
act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States
or of any State.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title or section
705 or 706 of the Communications Act of 1934, it shall not be
unlawful for an officer, employee, or agent of the United States in
the normal course of his official duty to conduct electronic
surveillance, as defined in section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978, as authorized by that Act.
(f) Nothing contained in this chapter or chapter 121 or 206 of
this title, or section 705 of the Communications Act of 1934, shall
be deemed to affect the acquisition by the United States Government
of foreign intelligence information from international or foreign
communications, or foreign intelligence activities conducted in
accordance with otherwise applicable Federal law involving a
foreign electronic communications system, utilizing a means other
than electronic surveillance as defined in section 101 of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and procedures in
this chapter or chapter 121 and the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978 shall be the exclusive means by which
electronic surveillance, as defined in section 101 of such Act, and
the interception of domestic wire, oral, and electronic
communications may be conducted.
(g) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter or chapter 121 of
this title for any person -
(i) to intercept or access an electronic communication made
through an electronic communication system that is configured so
that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the
general public;
(ii) to intercept any radio communication which is transmitted -
(I) by any station for the use of the general public, or that
relates to ships, aircraft, vehicles, or persons in distress;
(II) by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense,
private land mobile, or public safety communications system,
including police and fire, readily accessible to the general
public;
(III) by a station operating on an authorized frequency
within the bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band, or
general mobile radio services; or
(IV) by any marine or aeronautical communications system;
(iii) to engage in any conduct which -
(I) is prohibited by section 633 of the Communications Act of
1934; or
(II) is excepted from the application of section 705(a) of
the Communications Act of 1934 by section 705(b) of that Act;
(iv) to intercept any wire or electronic communication the
transmission of which is causing harmful interference to any
lawfully operating station or consumer electronic equipment, to
the extent necessary to identify the source of such interference;
or
(v) for other users of the same frequency to intercept any
radio communication made through a system that utilizes
frequencies monitored by individuals engaged in the provision or
the use of such system, if such communication is not scrambled or
encrypted.
(h) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter -
(i) to use a pen register or a trap and trace device (as those
terms are defined for the purposes of chapter 206 (relating to
pen registers and trap and trace devices) of this title); or
(ii) for a provider of electronic communication service to
record the fact that a wire or electronic communication was
initiated or completed in order to protect such provider, another
provider furnishing service toward the completion of the wire or
electronic communication, or a user of that service, from
fraudulent, unlawful or abusive use of such service.
(i) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person
acting under color of law to intercept the wire or electronic
communications of a computer trespasser transmitted to, through, or
from the protected computer, if -
(I) the owner or operator of the protected computer authorizes
the interception of the computer trespasser's communications on
the protected computer;
(II) the person acting under color of law is lawfully engaged
in an investigation;
(III) the person acting under color of law has reasonable
grounds to believe that the contents of the computer trespasser's
communications will be relevant to the investigation; and
(IV) such interception does not acquire communications other
than those transmitted to or from the computer trespasser.
(3)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a
person or entity providing an electronic communication service to
the public shall not intentionally divulge the contents of any
communication (other than one to such person or entity, or an agent
thereof) while in transmission on that service to any person or
entity other than an addressee or intended recipient of such
communication or an agent of such addressee or intended recipient.
(b) A person or entity providing electronic communication service
to the public may divulge the contents of any such communication -
(i) as otherwise authorized in section 2511(2)(a) or 2517 of
this title;
(ii) with the lawful consent of the originator or any addressee
or intended recipient of such communication;
(iii) to a person employed or authorized, or whose facilities
are used, to forward such communication to its destination; or
(iv) which were inadvertently obtained by the service provider
and which appear to pertain to the commission of a crime, if such
divulgence is made to a law enforcement agency.
(4)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection or
in subsection (5), whoever violates subsection (1) of this section
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five
years, or both.
(b) Conduct otherwise an offense under this subsection that
consists of or relates to the interception of a satellite
transmission that is not encrypted or scrambled and that is
transmitted -
(i) to a broadcasting station for purposes of retransmission to
the general public; or
(ii) as an audio subcarrier intended for redistribution to
facilities open to the public, but not including data
transmissions or telephone calls,
is not an offense under this subsection unless the conduct is for
the purposes of direct or indirect commercial advantage or private
financial gain.
(5)(a)(i) If the communication is -
(A) a private satellite video communication that is not
scrambled or encrypted and the conduct in violation of this
chapter is the private viewing of that communication and is not
for a tortious or illegal purpose or for purposes of direct or
indirect commercial advantage or private commercial gain; or
(B) a radio communication that is transmitted on frequencies
allocated under subpart D of part 74 of the rules of the Federal
Communications Commission that is not scrambled or encrypted and
the conduct in violation of this chapter is not for a tortious or
illegal purpose or for purposes of direct or indirect commercial
advantage or private commercial gain,
then the person who engages in such conduct shall be subject to
suit by the Federal Government in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
(ii) In an action under this subsection -
(A) if the violation of this chapter is a first offense for the
person under paragraph (a) of subsection (4) and such person has
not been found liable in a civil action under section 2520 of
this title, the Federal Government shall be entitled to
appropriate injunctive relief; and
(B) if the violation of this chapter is a second or subsequent
offense under paragraph (a) of subsection (4) or such person has
been found liable in any prior civil action under section 2520,
the person shall be subject to a mandatory $500 civil fine.
(b) The court may use any means within its authority to enforce
an injunction issued under paragraph (ii)(A), and shall impose a
civil fine of not less than $500 for each violation of such an
injunction.